V4 Announcements

Credit to Clueless for writing the 1st, 2nd and 3rd announcements, as well as the Liz Polanski incident.

The First Announcement
In spite of it being the crack of dawn, the HQ of the terrorists was already bustling with activity. The game didn't wait for the night and there was always plenty of nocturnal action to be monitoring. Shifts of Danya's henchmen were watching cameras at all time, making sure nobody got up to anything, whilst the techs ensured that there wasn't anything untoward going on with the equipment. Since last year, the screws had really been tightened on that count.

Achlys stifled a yawn. He'd been up all freaking night watching a screen with the same set of diagnostics, barely fluctuating. It was boring as hell and didn't get any easier with tiredness. Were he not worried that one of the serious toadies would spot him at it, he would've been tempted to take a snooze. But no, bad idea with people like Cecily about, that bitch was cutthroat...

In truthfulness the veteran didn't really see the point in all of this. The reason the kids had managed to get their collars off last version was the result of a monumental fuck up by somebody at HQ, not because the kids had been particularly smart or adept. If the cameras hadn't been knocked out, they would have blown the collars in the blink of an eye. Achyls had seen the work Lourvey had done on the new models this time, he'd tested the technology himself. They were foolproof.

Yet Danya was Danya. Achyls hadn't navigated three entire versions of the game by not following his orders. There was a reason he was still alive when so much of the original crew was gone, and that was because he kept his head down. McLocke, Kaige, Rice, Grossi, Garnett...

"Sup?"

Achyls couldn't help it, he jumped. He looked around into the smiling face of Jim Greynolds, blue eyes bright and inquisitive behind his spectacles. Greynolds looked like your typical geek... and he scared Achyls shitless. Forget guys like Wilson (and to a lesser extent, say, Baines). Those guys were physically intimidating, but that was simple stuff. Greynolds was just... disturbing. He smiled constantly, no matter what manner of blood and gore was on the cameras, he...

The tech shook himself out of it, now wasn't the time. "Just..." he yawned. "Just finishing my shift off, Greynolds."

Jim continued smiling amicably. "Bet that wasn't too exciting, huh?"

Achyls managed a sheepish half grin, not expecting Greynolds to sympathise. "Yeah, pretty mu-"

Greynolds seized Achyls by the shirt and practically hauled him out of his chair. He was still smiling. "It's not designed to be exciting," he hissed. "Suck it up."

"Y-Y-Yeah! Sure thing G-Greynolds!" the other man immediately let him go, allowing Achyls to sink gratefully back into his chair.

"Go get some sleep," Greynolds told the tech, idly running a hand through his hair. "Lourvey's gonna be along in about five seconds anyway."

"R-right," said Achyls, gratefuly for any opportunity to get away from Greynolds. He hadn't seen any of the so-called 'big four' for some time up until then, figuring they'd be busy with other things. As Achyls scrambled to leave the room, he found himself wondering what had changed, for Greynolds to be back all of a sudden.

Heading out into the corridor, Achyls very nearly bumped straight into Mr. Danya, the large man looking rather tired himself.

"Watch it," Danya growled. "Just because you're a vet doesn't mean I can't toss you onto the island."

Danya moved on, heading for his 'control room', whilst Achyls surpressed a shudder and reminded himself for the upteemth time that he needed to find a better job.

--

For the very first time, the students from Bayview Secondary School were treated to the screeches of feedback that heralded the public address system coming online. All across the island, speakers were powering up, their number (and volume) ensuring that they would be audible almost everywhere. The sound that emerged from them once the noise had died down; a slow, deliberate clapping.

Then, Mr. Danya spoke. "Kids, I have to say that I'm truly impressed with your first day showing. Blood! Tragedy! Explosions! Mayhem! You've utterly smashed the record for first day kills; it makes an old man proud to see you all taking his instructions so thoroughly to heart! Congratulations to those of you that are still alive, because you've already outlasted 20 of your classmates."

Sitting at his desk, Danya smirked, knowing that the figure would cause considerable distress. This run was their biggest yet, and it seemed that the number of students was preventing as many hiders as they'd had previously.

"Our first elimination for the day was frankly a favour for the genepool. Children, remember when I specifically told you not to tamper with those flash little numbers around your necks? Well... the terribly intelligent Remi Pierce elected to try and remove his collar. Needless to say, it worked... just not without taking his head off along with it. Next up, we had score one for mother nature after Dallas Reynolds was stung by a hornet and had such a bad allergic reaction he freaked out and blew his collar too! Sorry Dallas, I told Dorian to leave you with that epipen, but you know, his little joke."

There was a slight choking sound behind him and Danya chuckled to himself. Right now he imagined that his lackey was in the process of turning green.

"Third to die, as a shining example of why you really ought to keep good hold of your weapon if you were lucky enough to get a half-decent draw, was Warren Brown. Omar Burton shot him in the chest with his own gun, which would really have been quite embarrassing if he wasn't dead and all. Anyway, Eric Lorenz was next to meet his demise, taking a tumble at the hands of Alex Rasputin and winding up getting impaled on a fence. I guess the stakes were too high for him."

Somebody somewhere, Danya considered, just took a shot.

"Fifth wasted was, uh... hold on, let me make sure I get this one right. Reika Ishida, you heard that kids? Reika, the one nobody really cared about. She made the mistake of startling Kris Hartmann, who took her out like a pro. Moving right along, the next of our femme fatales, Clio Gabriella, shot Chris Davidson right in the head. Needless to say, that was the end of the line for him, if not his corpse."

Danya grinned again, recalling the antics of a certain student and the body in question. Points for creativity, most definitely.

"Right after that, the other Ishida twin proved that the incompetence doesn't run in the family and scored not one but two kills. First, Reiko wasted Sally Connelly with a little assist... then she promptly rubbed out her helper, Cyrille LaBlanche too. It was all very emotional, I very nearly shed a tear. And by 'shed a tear', I mean 'fell asleep'."

The man in charge had a whole lot of experience behind him at that moment in time. Twisting the facts came naturally to him now. How he'd framed the kills of Reiko wasn't untrue... just not quite a hundred percent by the book.

"Hold on just a second kiddies, I'm placing an order. Hello? Is that the Nick Reid take out? Yeah, I'd like to order a number 23. That's right, the extra crispy Daniel Vaughan in the molotov sauce. Alright, thanks a bunch. Now, where was I? Oh yes, tenth to be wiped off the map was Petrushka Ivanova as Miss Gabriella chalked up her second kill of the day. What an utter lack of fighting spirit that girl showed, it was really rather disappointing."

Danya's eyes went to the next name on his list and he let out a little snort. This was priceless.

"We then had score two for mother nature. Apparently Megan Nelson picked the wrong cave to spend the night in, because she ended up having an encounter with our resident bear. I guess somebody didn't get the 'do not feed the animals' memo. Everett Taylor was our next victim, he died at the hands of Janet Binachi after a healthy dose of hockey stick."

He stifled a slight yawn. Jeez, he had to get used to getting up early for the morning announcements again. Wouldn't do to seem tired to the children now, would it now?

"Unlucky number thirteen was Keith Christoph. He got beaten to a pulp by Ivan Kuznetsov and trust me folks, it's one for the highlight reel! What do they say about the quiet ones, eh? Fourteenth was a true tragedy as our resident Nazi, Rob Jenkins, broke up a happy lovers' reunion by shooting Paige Single... which I guess is what her boyfriend is now!"

Yep, somebody somewhere was definitely getting seriously drunk.

"Alex Rasputin proceeded to notch up his second head of the day after going all Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Robert Lerger. That'll make sure our ratings stay high, though I'll imagine that youtube immortality isn't much of a consolation for the deceased. Sixteenth to pass on was Brent Shanahan, who really picked the wrong guy to wind up. The track record of our hockey players has been pretty good over the years, and it looks like Staffan of the Kronwall brothers intends to maintain that streak. He shoots - he scores! Not content with that, Staffan went on to strangle Alicia Murazek to death too."

Danya looked to the list again. Almost finished, great. This was a lot of carnage to wade through. It was pleasing, sure enough, just tedious to announce it all. He'd watched the deaths first hand, after all.

"After giving us something of a show this morning, new fan favourite Maria Santiago was the next on the executioner's block, going down to Jackie Broughten's saw. Don't worry Maria, we'll remember you! Well... your body, at least. Eighteenth down was Tony Russo after Colin Falcone finished what he started with an 'accidental' injury."

You could hear the air quotes in Danya's voice. Twist upon twist.

"To round us off for the day, Kris Hartmann became the fourth person to join the two-kill club after gunning down Amber Whimsy. Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Trying to make nice with somebody pointing a gun at you ain't such a bright idea. Well, that's it for the kills, but stick around kids, this next part's important."

Which wouldn't nonetheless, stop some people going on to entirely ignore it. Idiotic danger zone deaths were almost obligatory.

"To keep you all on your toes, it's time for the dangerzones! Since a lot of dummies don't seem to understand this, let me put it simply: You go in zone. Collars goes boom. Got that? Okay children, listen close. As of this announcement, the Lighthouse, the Groundskeeper's Hut and Greens are now danger zones. If you're in any of those places, you'd better clear out pronto! Tick tock, folks!"

Almost as an afterthought, Danya continued.

"One last thing. We've been running our little poll and the runaway winner of today's best kill award is the one and only Ivan Kuznetsov! Congratulations kid, we'll be leaving your prize on the greens for you to collect. Don't worry, we wouldn't blow the collar of our MVP!"

Again, Danya barely stifled a yawn.

"Well, that's it for today. See you all in twenty-four hours! Well, those of you that are still alive, at least..."

The Second Announcement
''Tak. Tak tak tak. Tak tak... tak tak tak tak tak.''

The sounds of rapid-fire typing hung in the air, a bulky keyboard rattling away under the nimble fingers of one of Danya's technical staff. One of the Dorians. One of the Achyls. One of the Lourveys. This particular young woman was known to most as 'Sparky', simply because she introduced herself as that to most and in spite of having been up most of the night, she was still alert and focused. The amount of empty packages of caffeine pills strewn around Sparky's workstation was a pretty good indicator of exactly why that was the case. Her computer was getting the benefits of an intense stare, and all anybody in the vicinity could hear was her working away. The others at their own positions weren't nearly as active, just making the odd adjustment here and there. Sparky was the one real centre of movement.

''Tak tak tak. Tak tak. Tak tak tak tak. Tak tak.''

A few minutes longer, then Sparky sat back, expression completely unreadable. Leaning back in her seat, she stretched both arms above her head and gave a little sigh. The cessation in typing caught the attention of one of her colleagues, or rather, her immediate superior. A muscular black man, who had been regarding the techs with a distinct lack of interest, his name, Melvin Carter.

"You done, Sparky?" he rumbled, glancing at his wrist watch.

Sparky stiffened up, arms snapping straight back down to her sides. She gave a curt nod and stared into her lap, brown curls obscuring much of her face.

Carter inclined his head. He was the quietest of the senior staff of Danya's group and when it came down to it, the most clinical and efficient. He was never going to throw an arm around anybody's shoulders or tell them good job, but he wasn't going to knife somebody in the back either. Not like Greynolds, who'd freely slip between both and do it with a smile. Everyone knew where they stood with Carter. Granted, as with any member of Danya's inner circle that could be 'staring down the barrel of his gun', but at least they'd know about it.

"What were you doing anyway? You must have been typing for hours. I was watching."

Sparky shot half a glance at Melvin, then looked straight back at her lap. She looked like a schoolkid asked to stand up in front of the class and when she spoke up... she sounded like it too. "I... uh. I..." Sparky stopped, frowned. "That explosion outside the sawmill... it uh, it wiped out a few cameras... knocked a couple more offline. Lourvey fixed those but we had some blind spots so uh... I calibrated them to get the best coverage. I, uh, I don't think it's perfect but... I think that's as good as I can get it. Um, Mr. Carter."

There was a snort from Carter. "I'm no mister. I'll say that much. I know you aren't used to us being around, but for me at least, you can make it Carter."

An indescribable look flickered across Sparky's face for a second, then she nodded. "Right Mi... I uh, I mean, Cater."

Carter looked at his watch again, then raised his voice. "Alright people it's announcement time. Clear out, your shift's over."

The techs sat back and began picking up their stuff, as across the island the sound of the PA system coming online boomed into the ears of the students for the second time.

~*~

"Do you kids know what makes Uncle Danya happy?" the voice of the SOTF coordinator was laconic, laid back. He sounded in a great mood. "Things like... fine cigars, roast dinners, quiet nights in with Mrs. Danya... those things make Uncle Danya happy. But what also makes Uncle Danya happy is when his beloved students are game for the competition."

"Ladies and gentlemen of Bayview secondary school. You are making me a very happy man indeed. Not content with your fantastic showing across day one, you decided to not only match but exceed yourselves! The second day of our little competition saw twenty-one students bite the dust, buy the farm and shuffle off their mortal coils! Kids... my hat is off to you."

"Alllllright. Let's get down to the gritty details, shall we? First to die, right after our announcement, in fact, was Dawne Jiang. Miss Jiang decided that she couldn't, wouldn't hold her darling boyfriend Rekka back, and opted instead to stick around in a dangerzone. They say love makes you crazy, I didn't realise that meant 'stupid' too. Next..." Danya sighed. "Honestly kids I don't know how to make this any more simple for you. A certain Rose Codreanu, managed, somehow, to fail to realise that she too was in a dangerzone. We're doing future generations a favour with ones like that, we really are."

Danya glanced back down to his list of names, then smirked.

"Well, after that, everyone's favourite midget, Reiko Ishida managed to score with another double kill. That's right kids, that puts her on four. First up was Tobias Elwin, who took a knife to the throat and then right afterwards, Raina Morales discovered that Reiko's boot was a lot harder than her head. Must've been a real kicker for her..."

"Kill number five was none other than Eva Lancaster, with R.J. Lowe showing her that it's the quiet ones that you have to watch out for... and their guns. Six and seven came in quick succession at the hands of Maxwell Lombardi, our new favourite Brit first strangling Augustus MacDougal to death, then taking advantage of what can be only described as the monumental stupidity of Harold Fisher to take his gun and shoot him with it. Thanks, Maxwell, for showing everyone that there's more to you folks than top hats and tea drinking."

Danya paused for a couple of seconds, looking at the next name on his list. Hs smile, if possible, grew even wider.

"You know what I love so much about SOTF, kids? Giving you guys the opportunity to... get back at each other. Stick up a big middle finger to those jocks that bullied you, or that bitchy group of girls that bellittled you. Well, the spurned Frankie Watson thought he'd give that a shot, but sadly he proved as incompetent in fighting as he had in love, and was stabbed to death by Ericka Bradley."

"Our number nine kill was one for the highlight reel, and apparently Sarah Atwell thought so too, because she filmed it herself! Take a bow, Eve Walker-Luther, for your starring role in Sarah's creative masterpiece. Oh and... my condolences to you, Octavia. At least your mommy got on tv, right?"

The big man gave a little snicker to himself, readily audible across the PA system.

"Speaking of the highlight reel, Maria Graham showed some real flair in taking out Francine Moreau. Let's just say that deep fried Moreau has joined Vaughan at our little take out. Eleventh to die was one Steve Barnes, who found out that Hayley Kelly losing her head meant him losing his. Following on from this, we had a good ol' SOTF classic. Jaclyn Krusche killed Charlotte Cave! Charlotte Cave killed Jaclyn Krusche! Everyone wins! ...Well, sort've."

"Moving right along, we had Theo Behr take a dirt nap, with Rachel Gettys being the one to put him to bed. God probably told her to do it or something. Death number 15 was Chadd Crossen, who showed to us all the limits of just how much one man can suck by falling off a cliff and having his collar explode. Allow me to be the first to say; epic fail. Next to go down was the one and the only Jonathan Jarocki, who somehow got it into his head that running around and yelling and firing his gun like some kind of cowboy was a good idea. Miss Madeleine Smith proved exactly why that was not the case."

Back to the list. Great, just a few more to go. He could really do with a nap...

"Our next victim was Vanessa Struthers, who was shot by David Matson. MUCH more entertaining was our next kill, with Nick Reid doing the honours by smashing Tom Guthrie's face into a fine paste using a rock wall, so for those of you keeping count, that's two for Mr. Reid. Violetta Lindsberg was the next sob story for the evening because in grief for her girlfriend, she blew her own collar. We too mourn, for the loss of potential girl on girl action. But we soldier on."

Danya gave a little mock sigh.

"Twentieth to go down was Trevor Duncan, taking a shot to the collar from William Hearst and finding himself ever so slightly deceased. Rounding us off for the day, Scott McGregor, showing yet AGAIN why you don't make any sudden movements around somebody with a gun, was shot and killed by Raidon Naoko. Although... seriously people, what is it with you guys and hats anyway?"

Scrunching up his list into a ball, Danya tossed it to one side and smiled, looking at the computer set up to one side of him. On the screen was a map of the island, a few areas greyed out. With the flick of a switch, he could make any of the locations into a dangerzone.

"Alright kiddies, all the current dangerzones are cleared. But, it wouldn't be any fun if we had none, so I'm going to go ahead and name The Infirmary, The Key and The Mansion as our latest dangerzones. Don't pull a Codreanu, folks - haul ass!"

"Our last order of business for this announcement is that perennial office favourite; the best kill award! Sarah Atwell, I hope you remember us when Hollywood gives you a call, because you're the winner of today's award! Please head on over to the Infirmary in a short while to collect your glamourous prize!"

"Wishing you all love, cuddles and violent murder, this is Danya signing off. Toodles!"

The Third Announcement
The break room was all but deserted. The jukebox wasn't playing, the TV showed nothing but a blank screen. The coffee machine, usually gurgling away, was silent.

Dorian Pello sprawled listlessly across one of the room's trio of couches, staring into space. His shift had ended some time ago, in the small hours of the morning, but he hadn't been able to get to sleep. He'd tossed and turned in his bunk for a while, before throwing in the towel and electing to stay up. Rest didn't come easy to Dorian at these times, never had done and in spite of the stress it put on him, he sort of hoped that it never would. Undoubtedly being able to sleep during the games would stop him being so fraught, but... what kind of person slept easily at a time like this?

People like his boss.

How'd he ended up this way? Dorian's employment under Danya had stretched to years now and... and well, he no longer had the crutch of his mother's sickness to justify himself. For everything he'd done, for the all the help he'd given Danya and the rest of his team with managing the technical aspects of the game. All his actions... and the money hadn't been enough; or rather it was the medical care that hadn't done the job. His mother had passed away, in spite of his best efforts. Dorian had tried... and he'd failed. But now... now, what could he do? Last time around, he'd been forced to make announcements, speak out to the world. People would know his voice, he had no choice but to stay. He didn't think that the courts would accept a sob story as an excuse for helping terrorists.

"I see you're as cheerful as always, Dorian."

Dorian's head snapped up, suddenly alert. The door stood open, a petite woman framed there.

"Sonia-!" Dorian scrambled for something to say to the Vietnamese woman. "You're looking... well?" he concluded lamely.

Sonia Ngyuyen stepped into the break room with a half-smile on her face at the remark. Dorian watched her as she sank into a plush armchair, studying the woman he hadn't seen for a year or more. She hadn't changed much, apart from her hair being unexpectedly braided. Same square glasses, same leanly muscled physique.

"Thanks, Dorian. It's been a while," Sonia reached for the TV remote and turned it on, flicking through channels until she found where V4 was being broadcast. At this hour, not a whole lot was happening. Most of the feeds were just showing the kids sleeping. Nguyen didn't really seem to mind, watching with apparently rapt interest. There was a long silence.

"Uh... Sonia? If you don't mind me asking... where have you guys been all this time?" Normally, it wasn't a question that Dorian would venture, but Sonia seemed very relaxed and since they were both off duty and everything...

Nguyen raised an eyebrow, apparently surprised at the question.

Then, she spoke. "Dorian, in our profession, you sometimes need a little bit of leverage over others to meet your ends. Sometimes, you're lucky enough to get some by chance... others?" there was a glint in Sonia's eyes, shining behind her glasses. "Well, others let's just say you have to make it for yourself. What Greynolds, Carter and I were doing was making... leverage."

A chill went down Dorian's spine.

~*~

"Doo doo doo da dee da doo doo..." Mr. Danya hummed a snatch of song to himself, rather tonelessly, as it happened. Contrary to his lackey, Danya had enjoyed a very good night's sleep, turning in early to account for having to get up at the crack of dawn to review his notes for the announcement. But then, when the game was running well, Danya's good cheer seemed to be endless.

Keying the PA system, a grin creeping onto his face, Danya cleared his throat. "Kids, when I first looked through the dossiers we have on you guys, I was thinking no way no how were a bunch of saps like you going to provide much of a spectacle."

"I'm ever so glad you've all proved me so completely wrong."

"Ladies and gentlemen, as of this, the third announcement, a further twenty-three of your peers have bitten the dust. Outstanding, kiddies. Simply outstanding."

"First up, yet another waste of time decided to opt out, Hermione Miller making it easier on all the rest of you by setting off her own collar. Guess she won't be appearing in any more photo-shoots anytime soon. Vera Osborne then showed everyone exactly why you don't interfere in the business of others, getting taken out by Maxwell Lombardi. Next of the morning, Kris Hartmann proceeded to notch up her third kill by offing Albert Lions. All I can say is Heil Hartmann. Keep it up!"

Danya sniggered to read the next name. This was priceless.

"Once AGAIN demonstrating that even the island is out to kill you, Samaya Boen-Hilstrand fell victim to a poisonous snake. Which bites, I guess. Fifth up - or rather down, was Jackson Ockley, who found that the kiss Ilario Fiametta gave him wasn't exactly the type he would have enjoyed. Nice work Ilario, daddy will be proud. Cody Jenkins was our next not so lucky customer, who had the genius idea of getting between Maxwell Lombardi, Maxwell Lombardi's gun, and Maxwell Lombardi's target. You do the math, children."

"Quincy Jones decided to stamp his mark on the game, putting an end to Max Neill, whilst Janet Victoriee-Ser gave us a show with her vibrator... although not exactly in the way we'd intended. I'm sure her death was as humiliating as it was painful. Fan favourite Sarah Atwell then showed that she's got some variety in her repertoire by stabbing Miranda Merchant in the throat. Hey, a good director has got to diversify now and then, right? Tenth to buy the farm was Edward Belmont, who invoked the wrath of god in the form of Rachel Gettys and took a rock to the head for his trouble."

"And the fun goes on. Hayley Kelly, having sharpened her skills yesterday, demonstrated her perfect beheading technique, this time on James Mulzet. Points for execution, if not originality. Charles Richard Dawson was the next man eliminated, falling victim to Clio Gabriella - yup, that girl again! Our unluckiest of the pack this time was Daniel Kensrue, who took a shot to the face from Claire Lambert. Welcome to the club Claire, you've got a lot of company!"

"Our fourteenth casualty was Deidre Paul, who took a tumble into the swamp and didn't come back out. For those of you keeping score at home, that's island four, dumb kids, nil. Next of the pathetic saps crew we had Simon Fletcher, who didn't even have the balls to off HIMSELF, and had to get Samantha Ridley to do it for him. Shame on you Simon, now Samantha has to live with shame and guilt tormenting her for the rest of her doubtlessly short life. Shame on you."

"Brock Mason finally found a gun that he could operate... although too bad for him it was pointing in the wrong direction. Seventeenth to be fitted for a coffin was Dominic Stratford, who after a long, hard struggle and a battle with Alex Seymour. Well. Uh. Died. Nice going kid. Next, that man Maxwell Lombardi popped up yet again, this time to put paid to Daniel Blessing. Count 'em kid, at least you don't have to worry about the clowns any more. Trying to keep pace for the top gun contest, Clio Gabriella stepped up to the plate and took out Luke Templeton for her fourth and our 60th kill of the competition."

"Cisco Vasquez took a page out of the ninja handbook in cutting the throat of Katelyn Wescott. Our twentieth kill was a little bit of justice, or at least, that's what the murderer, Julian Avery would claim. Omar Burton probably wouldn't agree though. Just an inkling. We then had the other Kronwall brother join team-killer by proving that fat people are not in fact bulletproof and offing Craig Hoyle. All I can say is TIIIIIIMBEEEEEEEEER!"

"To wrap things up, Lucas Lupradio boarded the boat to failville after tangling with Peter Siu. If that slash to the throat is any indication, he's reached his destination as the 23rd and final student to die on day three. Once again kids, I commend you."

Danya sat back, stretched, and gave a slight yawn.

"All but done, folks, but stick around kiddies, this part's important. The current dangerzones are clear, but it wouldn't be fun at all if we stayed with ALL access now, would it? The Warehouse, South-East Woods and the East Beach will now make you explode. And that would be bad."

"Oh, and Mr. Ilario Fiametta III? The viewing public was a big fan of your work. Stop by the warehouse for your fabulous reward!"

"Keep busting heads and taking names, kids, Uncle Danya's real happy! Ciao!"

Liz Polanski's Bounty Announcement
The technician known as Sparky sat at her workstation and simply stared at the screen of her computer. She wasn't entirely sure that she believed what she was seeing. A couple of the others had picked up on one of the kids - the weird little goth that had smeared herself with gore and had been responsible for part of the swamp being set ablaze - had been gathering pieces of scrap. Tin cans, mostly. Lourvey had brought it up with Achyls, but the senior tech had dimissed it; nobody was going to break through a collar using a soda can. It wasn't worth monitoring.

Except, apparently, he'd been wrong.

Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her. There was no way that anybody had the balls to put themself through that much pain. Sparky blinked, hard, rubbed her eyes, but no, the sight remained. A girl screaming in pain, the hot aluminium she'd melted scalding her skin even as it did unknowable damage to the inner workings of the collar. Sparky was stunned, she was amazed, in a couple of small ways, she was even a little impressed.

For a good thirty seconds, the young woman watched Liz Polanski's agony, transfixed by the pain of a girl that she was barely a year older than. A few moments more, then there was a sharp intake of breath from behind her. Sparky turned.

All the colour had drained from Dennis Lourvey's face. "Is that...? Oh shit. Oh shit."

Achyls, working nearby, heard the other technician speak up and seeing his face, all but leapt out of his seat, knocking it over in the process. He'd been jumpy ever since he'd realised that the destruction of a camera in the Ranger's Station had effectively left them with a room-sized blind spot. Achyls had blown the perpetrator's collar personally, but Sparky had worked with him long enough to tell that the concern was eating away at him.

Achyls rushed over and the second he saw Sparky's display, he swore. "Blow the collar!" he barked at the woman, who snapped out of her daze for a few moments to enter the associated command. Nothing happened. "I said BLOW THE FUCKING COLLAR!" Achyls bellowed.

Sparky flinched back. "It-it... it won't work, Sir!"

The lead technician whirled around and grabbed Lourvey by the lapels before screaming into his face. "Get Danya! NOW!" his subordinate was out of the door in the blink of the eye.

Sparky looked back to the girl on her screen, others now on hand to help her. The young tech's eyes narrowed in thought.

~*~

The door almost burst from its hinges as the man himself, Mr. Danya, swept into the hub room. Behind him came Richards and Baines, both carrying assault rifles and wearing their best poker faces. Lourvey stumbled along after them, still deathly pale, although seemingly now with the makings of a black eye. Almost unnoticed, Jim Greynolds slipped in last, expression unreadable.

Unlike that of his boss.

Danya wasn't angry. His emotional state transcended mere anger. He was furious, so enraged that one could practically see the steam emerging from his ears. When he spoke, his voice trembled. It was obvious that Danya was having to put considerable effort into not breaking something.

The question was simple. "Who. The hell. Missed it?"

Silence. Danya made fists, took a deep breath. A red smudge was visible on his knuckles.

"Who saw the kid getting materials together, and didn't. Tell. Me?"

More quiet.

"There are five of you, and you're trying to say that not one of you saw what was going on? Don't insult my intelligence."

And then a voice. "It was Achyls."

Every person in the room turned as one... to Cecily Lacoste, twirling a blond ringlet of hair around her finger. She had the look of somebody that was very much trying to hide a smile.

"Explain," growled Danya.

"Lourvey saw what the girl was doing. Achyls told him not to bother with it."

The senior technician gaped, mouth opening and closing mutely, like some kind of fish. Danya let out a long, heartfelt sigh.

"Oh Achyls. All this time, all that experience, and now you spring this on me?" Danya looked up to the ceiling for a couple of moments, as if thinking. "I'm afraid that you're no longer inexpendable, Achyls. Such a shame. We had some times, didn't we?"

Achyls swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing noticeably. "So that's it? 5 years and that's all I'm worth to you? You're just going to kill me!?"

Danya chuckled, conveying absolutely no humour. "Oh no no, Achyls. I'm not going to kill you," Danya swivelled, gestured to Sparky. "She is."

There was a momentary silence, then Achyls, with a roared 'Fuck you!', launched himself at his boss, desperation granting him enough speed to... get cold cocked in the jaw by the butt of Richards' gun. He went down hard with a cry, clutching his face as he sprawled on the floor. Danya looked down on the technician for a moment, tipping Richards and nod, then returned his gaze to Sparky, who seemed stunned.

"I meant that, by the way," he favoured her with a grin. "You're the new girl, it's traditional," Danya considered a moment. "Not to kill one of us. Getting your hands dirty. Baines," he gestured and the blond man stepped forward, drawing a pistol and holding it out to Sparky. She took it gingerly.

Danya nodded. "Kill him."

Sparky looked down at Achyls. Her former superior looked up at her, still holding his broken jaw. There was little more then resignation in his eyes. Sparky hesitated for a couple of seconds, the gun an unfamiliar weight in her hands. A little longer, and Achyls spoke.

"Go ahead," he forced put, wincing as the action aggravated his injury. "Shoot. I'm just one in a long line that's outlived his usefulness," Achyls hauled himself to his knees. "Just remember that sooner or later, it'll be you th-"

The gunshot cut him off.

~*~

"I was under the impression, Lourvey, that you redesigned those things to be foolproof."

"With respect, sir, I didn't take into account that somebody might be willing to pour molten metal onto their own neck. I'm amazed the kid still has a throat. If that group hadn't been on hand to help her..."

"We don't trade in ifs and buts, Lourvey, it's vital that we prevent her from..." a smile crossed the face of Mr. Danya. A sick, sick little smile. "Lourvey, check the girl's dossier. ... I think we might have a friend of hers around the place."

~*~

Kwong Lei stirred and for the first time in four days, became aware of his surroundings. He'd been kept in a drug induced stupor for much of his time there, eating and drinking what he'd been given on autopilot, incapable of wading through his thickness of mind to formulate any thought.

Until now.

He was in a well-lit room, and he was sitting on - no, tied to a chair. He'd been positioned in front of a desk, upon which was a computer with a display he didn't understand, and a large microphone. Kwong tried to turn around, to see what was behind him, but found his movement too restricted by the ropes binding him to manage it.

There was a grunt. "Stop with the moving, or I'll start with the shooting."

"Don't be a moron, Baines," Kwong heard the eyeroll. "The big man will fucking murderise us if we hurt him."

"Murderise? Really Richards? Really?"

For a moment, Kwong was back in the classroom again. He had a strange urge to threaten detention. However, before his (still admittedly a little drugged up) mind could come up with anything foolish, the spell was broken.

"Children... children. I suffer from enough bickering at home, and the two of you don't strike me as eight year olds," muttered apologies, then somebody walked around to stand in front of Kwong. He stiffened.

It was the man who had introduced himself as Danya.

"Mr. Kwong," Danya said, seeming to savour the name. "So pleased to finally meet you in person. I'm afraid I'm going to be very rude here, but ...I'd like you to do something for me.

Something very important."

~*~

The PA system crackled into life across the entire island, sparking confusion amongst the students. This only intensified when the voice that began to speak wasn't that of Danya... it was that of Kwong Lei, their math teacher over years of education. Mr. Kwong's voice was uncharacteristically but surprisingly tremulous.

"Good afternoon, students. I've been instructed to read out a prewritten statement from Mr. Danya regarding an incident that has taken place on the island," he cleared his throat.

"And I quote.

It's come to our attention that one of your number has been interfering with their collar. This is clearly unacceptable," Kwong's voice grew a little stronger at this, beginning to drip with sarcasm. "After all, we wouldn't want anybody refusing to play ball, would we? The student in question is Liz Polanski, some of you might know here. I'm speaking to you in order to bring an offer from Danya.

Should anybody successfully kill Liz Polanski, they will immediately be awarded a weapon from our very own stash of best kill prizes as a bounty.

Miss Polanski. If you instruct anybody, verbally or by any other method, in your techniques, we will immediately detonate their collar. If we see you persisting in trying to break our rules, we will detonate collars at random. If you remain at large, we will send in a team to hunt you and anybody found to be allied with you down. We may also-" Kwong faltered. "We may also see fit to eliminate your beloved teacher."

There was a long moment's silence.

"It has also come to our attention that Miss Polanski has recklessly destroyed one of our cameras, as a punishment, we will now detonate a collar," there was an indistinct murmur across the PA. When Kwong spoke again, he sounded horrified. "What!? No! I - you can't make me-"

A heavy impact, followed by a gasp and a whimper. Somebody had struck Kwong.

"I... I will be commencing this punishment now," a second of silence and... "B148, Daisuke Nagazawa, eliminated.

This is your teacher, Kwong Lei, signing off. Kids I believe in-!"

We now return you to your regularly scheduled SOTF action.